In response, North Korea said it may test missiles on a weekly basis, and warned of “all-out war” if the US takes military action.

‘Many threats’

Speaking on Wednesday, Mr Tillerson said the Iran review, which he announced in a letter to Congress a day earlier, would not only look at Tehran’s compliance with the nuclear deal but also its actions in the Middle East.

In announcing a broad review of Iran policy the Trump administration has not jettisoned the nuclear deal.

But Rex Tillerson has come pretty close to saying the agreement is not worth keeping, even though he’s had to admit it’s working.

Image copyrightEPA

Image caption
Iran has so far made no public comments on the latest developments

This week the secretary of state informed congress that Tehran is keeping its side of the bargain to restrict its nuclear programme in exchange for the lifting of sanctions, which he’s required to confirm every 90 days.

In spoken remarks, though, he talked only of Iran’s bad behaviour and linked that to the future of the deal – a message that will resonate far more on Capitol Hill and to which it was probably aimed.

Former President Barack Obama would have agreed with all the charges: that Iran is a state sponsor of terrorism, that it supports proxies which undermine US interests in the region, that it’s hostile to Israel and that its ballistic missile tests challenge UN Security Council prohibitions.

But Mr Obama kept those issues separate from the nuclear agreement, which would have been impossible to achieve without that narrow focus.

Mr Tillerson, on the other hand, called this a mistaken approach and said the review would take a comprehensive look at all of the threats posed by Iran.